BRIDGEPORT -- One of the hardest things Tyler Ancrum had to do on Thursday was bottle up his energy.

With second-ranked Central rolling to a 48-point shellacking of Norwich Free Academy in the second round of the LL state tournament, the speedy point guard was given a rare breather.

The work had been done.

The Hilltoppers led by as many as 54 and crushed NFA 90-42 to advance to the state quarterfinals.

"I don't want to embarrass people," Ancrum said. "I just want to play the game, blow the team out, just go home."

Winners of 13 straight, the Hilltoppers (24-1) knocked down eight 3-pointers to set up a matchup on Monday at home against No. 10 Ridgefield (19-5). The FCIAC foes met once during the regular season, with the Hilltoppers winning 66-62.

Led by Sha'Quan Bretoux's 24 points, the Hilltoppers torched NFA from the start. The Wildcats -- playing without their second-leading scorer, guard Desmond D'elia-Miller (arm injury) -- switched between a zone and man-to-man defense, to no avail.

"They shot incredible," NFA coach Chris Guisti said. "We knew that we would have to play zone. The matchups weren't favorable for us to play man."

The Hilltoppers exploited both defenses to build a 47-25 advantage at halftime. Their lead ballooned to 41 after outscoring NFA 21-2 in the third quarter.

"I think (we) played great," coach Barry McLeod said. "They only scored two points in the third quarter. You can't be happier with anything (except) a shutout."

Central went on a 31-2 run -- stretching from the second quarter to the fourth -- to build its largest lead at the time (46).

Ancrum finished with 16 points, Marcus Blackwell had 14 and Antoin Pettway contributed 13 in the paint. Six of Pettway's points came in the first quarter as Central built a 26-11 lead.

"I just chose to get big in the paint," Pettway said. "Coach has been asking me to do that the whole time."

The Hilltoppers, who crushed Trumbull 105-78 in Tuesday's first round, trailed NFA only once. They quickly turned that one-point deficit into a 16-point lead in the first with a 19-2 spurt.

McLeod said he wasn't pleased with his team's defense early, citing "confusion" on the pick-and-roll, but they recovered quickly. NFA, which scored only 38 in its first-round win, produced the fewest points of any opponent against Central this year.

"Just play hard, play defense," Pettway said. "That's all there is to it. Coach tells us to play defense, that's what's going to win games.